Concord, Mass.
1899.
May 19
  Cloudy and misty with fine rain for brief periods. East wind in 
A.M. afternoon dead calm. Ther. 49 [degrees] - 6 A.M., 56 [degrees] - 1 P.M., 50 [degrees] - 8 P.M.
  A great "bird day". A small migratory flight must have arrived
last night for there was a marked increase in the numbers of
Black-polls & Water Thrushes and I heard the first Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher but the unusual abundance of small birds on & about
Ball's Hill was chiefly due, no doubt, to the lowering, easterly
weather which always, at this season, causes them to congregate here.
More than 100 Chimney Swifts were circling all day about the oaks
on the crest of the Hill and the meadows were alive with
low-skimming Swallows of all five species. The trees along the
south slope of the hill and the thickets bordering the river were
simply swarming with birds - Redstarts, Maryland Yellow-throats,
Black-polls, Water Thrushes, 2 Canadian Warblers, a Wilson's Black cap,
2 Lincoln's Finches, 2 White-throated Sparrows, Cat-birds, etc. etc.
I spent the forenoon watching these birds. In the afternoon I
paddled down to Birch Island. As I passed Davis's Hill
I heard a Blackburnian, a Wilson's Blackcap & three Least Flycatchers
and saw several Water Thrushes. Almost nothing at Birch Island
or in the neighboring Mason woods.
  Walking around the east end of Ball's Hill at evening I
heard a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in the blueberry swamp, a
Wilson's Snipe drumming (twice) over Holden's Meadow, and
two Solitary Sandpipers calling high overhead. A Whippoorwill
was singing in the distance, apparently on Davis' Hill, & two
Nighthawks passed rather low down, hawking for insects.
The air was deliciously soft & very still. The absence of
mosquitoes is remarkable. There are almost none now
although two weeks ago they were very numerous.
The small black flies have also disappeared.
[margin]Evening walk
around
Ball's Hill.
Snipe drums.
Night hawks.[/margin]
[margin]Scarcity of
mosquitos.[/margin]
84